Los Angeles Lakers: Luke Walton impressed by Josh Hart in debut
Los Angeles Lakers rookie Josh Hart impressed head coach Luke Walton in his preseason debut.
The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to win this preseason, which is a disappointing. They have dealt with some injuries, so we have yet to see their projected lineup, so that is part of the problem. However, the results of the preseason games mean very little; at the end of the day, it is all about seeing improvement and seeing what the young guys have.
Thus far, a ton of the attention has been on Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma, and rightfully so. Ball will be someone fans are enamored with all season. The much-hyped No. 2 pick has quite a following. Kuzma has been turning heads with his play, as his performance in the Las Vegas Summer League has carried over to the preseason.
One young player that is currently flying under the radar is Josh Hart. Like Ball and Kuzma, Hart was a first-round pick by the Lakers this year. They selected him with the No. 30 overall pick, which they acquired in a trade from the Utah Jazz.
The former Villanova product is one of the more well-rounded prospects in this year’s draft class. He was an outstanding collegiate player for four seasons, getting it done on both ends of the court.
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His experience is something many people believed would help get him on the court right away. Four-year college players are rare to see this year, but Hart is arguably one of the most pro-ready prospects as result. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much of him yet.
Hart was injured early in the Summer League. An ankle injury sidelined him for a majority of the Summer League, in which the Lakers won the championship in. A hamstring injury kept him sidelined at the beginning of training camp, but he was finally able to get on the court in the third preseason game against the Denver Nuggets.
With Ball sidelined, there were some minutes in the backcourt available and Hart picked some of them up. Hart played 19 productive minutes in his debut. His performance was something that stood out to head coach Luke Walton.
When speaking to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times, Walton commented on Hart’s debut and talked highly of his performance.
"“He was good,” Walton said. “He gambled a couple of times on defense but for the most part he was solid and knocked down some shots for us. He is a tough young man, which is something we need on this team. For his first game, he did a good job.”"
Hart scored nine points in his debut, going 4-for-7 from the field. He added four rebounds, one assist and two steals for a solid stat line. Toughness and defense is something that the Lakers are lacking; if Hart can show he is capable of providing both, he should push for playing time.
The remainder of the preseason and beginning of the regular season will be very important for Hart. With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope suspended the first two games, Hart will have an opportunity to earn some playing time beyond that if he plays well.
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His skill set is something the Lakers could use in their rotation. Hart will have to earn those minutes, though, as there are a lot of players vying for playing time right now on the Lakers squad.